Article feed device



April 3, 1951 K. J. YOST EIAL 2547,51

ARTICLE FEED DEVICE Filed Dec. 31, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTGRS KENNETH J. YOS T, WARREN S. REYNOLDS and JOHN R.TURNER ATTORNEYS April 3, 1951 K. J. YosT ETAL ARTICLE FEED DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 31, 1947 INVENTORS 4 KENNETH J. YOST,

WARREN S. WE'WVOLDS and JOHN R. TURNER ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 3, 1951 ARTICLE FEED I E Kenneth J, Yost and Warren S. Reynolds, Westport, and John R. Turner, Stratford, Conn., assignors to Remington Arms Company, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn a corporation of Delaware App i ati n De ember 31, 94 S ria N 83 12 Claims; 1

Ibis invention relates to mechanism for delivering a series of articles one at a time to. a particular location and in a certain orientation,

The invention has been illustrated as applied to a shot she l ass m ly m h e a d contemplates mechan sm for a ign s o sh l ry cup and del ve ng the cups o e at a t m into posit on in whi h ch o r i rn. s i s r ed into an aper ure pro ided th ref r n a sh t sh l head. The machine will be described with referease to battery c es, batte y a sembl es and h shells, but its util ty or other component and assem lies ll e apparent.

The particul r ma hi e to which the inve i n has been applied is of the continuously revolving turret y e. comp e sh t h s ready to receive. bat e y asse ies are r d. t mach n in recep a es in a on e o ch Which ch n lik wise erves. t revolve t u et.- Th turret comprises a revo v ng hop r bottom wi wh h is asso iated a f x d h p dy h rev v n bott being provided with ne or more s ts in which the battery s emblies are al ned in a row, susp n d by the r rim At a desired o n in the rotation of the turret, the lowermost batter a se b n the hopper b ttom slot or trac way is r moved and tran rred nt a s t on in alignment with the center portion of the head of a shot shell in a conveyor receptacle, from w ich pos n it is thrust upwardly into assembled relation with the shot shell. The battery assemblies are exteriorly short flanged cylindrical bodies which are somewhat difficult to handle ex dit ou l F r h s reason he i vention contem lates certa n s cia a ra e ment for obviat n d ma due o jams a d f qui kly m lt-ins h treckwa an r ns e fin rs accessible for clearing jams and removing di torted components.

in the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of a machine including one embodiment of the in vention. The transfer fingers are shown in battery assembly receivin position.

Fig. 2 is a view generally similar to Fig. 1, showing the transfer fingers in battery assembly delivering-position; certain other parts being displaced accordingly.

Fig. 3 is an elevation substantially on the line i= of F g.

Fig, 4 is a transverse section the line 4=- -4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a detached plan view of the transfer degree and the r mounting,

substantially all Fig. 6 is a detail of the end portion of a transfer finger.

The machine comprises a turret body mounted for rotation about a fixed center post H]. A portion of the turret body is extended outward to form an annular table H which serves as a support, directly or indirectly, for many of the parts to be described. To such table II is secured a sprocket wheel l2 adapted for engagement by a sprocket chain l3, which chain carries upwardly and inwardly extending arms l4 apertured to receive work-holding dies l5. In the present disclosure, these dies are shaped to receive shot shell bodies, as shown at IS, the lower portion of each die being appropriately enlarged to receive the head I! of such a shot shell body. During the insertion of a battery assembly each shot she'll body is accurately held, vertically and laterally by the engagement of its holding die IS with a hold-down plate l8, secured to and rotating with the turret assembly. The marginal portion of plate I8 is undercut and scalloped, as clearly illustrated, to engage both the top and the periphery of each die 15, the dies being urged laterally into the scallops by a flexible belt or band l8| so supported as to contact the dies during their movement through an appropriate are.

Secured to and revolving with the turret is a conical hopper bottom, identified generally by numeral 19, which bottom comprises one or more radial slots or trackways 24 of such a width as to receive the cylindrical bodies of battery cups but not the flanges of such cups. Immediately adjacent this conical slotted hopper bottom is a normally fixed conical or flaring hopper body 20 which is supported at its rim 20! on a fixed anular body 2| which may be the base portion of an explosion stack. Said parts 20 and 2| are secured together by an annular friction joint 22, whereby, in the event a workpiece becomes jammed between the skirt portion 23 of hopper body 20 and the revolving bottom IS, the friction joint will yield and permit the body 20 to revolve with the hopper bottom. Since the battery assemblies to be handled through the hopper contain an ex-.- plosive, priming composition, it is desirable to permit only a limited number of them in the ho per at any one time. A conveyor feed for delivering battery assemblies to the hopper is contemplated, and a lever 202 which may be provided with a terminal vane 203 controls a microswitch (not shown) which halts the conveyor when vane 293 is engaged and displaced by oil-- gagement with the mass v of workpieces in the HOPP l It will be noted that the face of skirt 23 adjacent the conical surface of bottom 19 parallels said surface and is spaced therefrom by an amount slightly greater than the height of a battery cup flange. Thus, battery cups which are suspended by their flanges in trackway 24 can slide freely under the skirt 23 and thus out of the hopper. The stationary hopper 26! is preferably eccentric to the conical hopper bottom l9, as more fully described in the e c-pending application of Reynolds et al., Serial No. 770,706, filed August 26, 1947, now Patent No. 2,538,706, granted January 16, 1951.

The conical hopper bottom 19 extends outwardly beyond the periphery of skirt 23 and its periphery is notched, as shown at 25, to furnish a lowered or offset terminal portion for each trackwa 24. The length of each terminal portion is such that it can receive one workpiece only; thus, the foremost workpiece in each trackway is isolated from the column of workpieces which follow behind it, and the possibility of an overlap of the flanges of the two foremost workpieces is completely obviated. This feature of the present invention is of importance. The foremost workpiece is to be delivered to a swinging transfer device (to be described), and an interengagement of its flange with the flange of the following workpiece would prevent such delivery and predispose to jams and smash-ups.

Means are provided for retaining the foremost workpiece in the offset terminal portion of each trackway and simultaneously engaging and holding the lowermost workpiece in the main portion of each trackway and for releasing these workpieces for forward movement. The retaining means is so constructed and arranged that it may be readily pivoted to such a position as to afford access to the terminal portion of the trackway and with equal facility be restored to and latched in effective position. The illustrative embodiment of this means is constructed as follows:

Pivoted at 26 to a bracket 2'! is a retaining member identified generally by numeral 28, Said retaining member comprises recesses adaptedto receive retaining blocks 29 and 3D. The retaining block 29 overlies the battery cup or other workpiece adjacent the end of the main portion of the trackway in position A, Fig. l. The retaining block 30 overlies the lowered or offset terminal portion of the trackway, and is provided with a sloping or arcuate surface 32 adapted to guide a workpiece and particularly the flange thereof from position A to position B, in which said workpiece is still suspended by its fiange but is lowered with respect to position A. The flat terminal undersurface 33 of block 30 is normally spaced from the upper surface of the terminal portion 25 of the trackway by an amount .sufficient to pass the flange of a workpiece but not sufiicient to enable the flange of a following workpiece to rideup onto the flange of the foremost workpiecef and the retainer 28 is normall so positioned as to secure this spacing, but when the transfer fingers (to be described) are displaced from receiving position,

' the retainer rocks about its pivot 26 into the position illustrated in Fig. 2, in which a workpiece 1n the A position is gripped beneath the undersurface of ,block 29 and a workpiece in the B position is pocketed by the approach of surface 33 tothe periphery of the terminal portion of the trackway. This movement of retainer 28 to workpiece retaining position is effected through the engagement of an upstanding part 34 of retainer 28 with a plunger 35 mounted in bracket 27 and urged forward by a spring 36.

To aiford access to the terminal portion of the trackway 24, as well as to the transfer fingers, bracket 21 is pivoted at 3? to a latch block 38 which is suitably secured to the turret body. Latch block 38 is undercut as shown at 39 to receive the end portions of a pair of latch levers 40 which are pivoted to bracket 2'! at M and 42 respectively. Said levers are joined together b toggle links 43 and 44, each pivoted to one of the levers 4i) and connected together by a stud 45 comprising a finger piece 46. The arrangement is such that in latching position of latch levers 4B the toggle links as and M- have passed dead-center and thus remain in latched position. When it is desired to withdraw the ends of these latch levers from the undercut 39, to permit lifting of bracket 21 and the retainer mounted thereon, the fingerpiece 46 is lifted, shifting the toggle links past dead center, after which further upward and outward movementof fingerpiece 46 will shift the latch levers to. ineffective position and thereafter rock bracketzl about its pivot 31. When the necessary adjustments have been made, bracket 2! and theretainer thereon are restored to effective position with a similar single reverse movement of finger-e piece 46. H

The means for transferring a battery cup or workpiece from the terminal portion of trackway 24 into a position in alignment with the center of a shot shell head I! may be constructed as follows:

To an arbor 50, which for convenience may be" journalled in depending portions 5! of. latch block 38, is secured a mounting block 52 uponwhich are pivoted by suitable means such as studs 55 and 56 a pair of transfer fingers 53, 5 1 Said transfer fingers are urged to move toward each other about their pivots by appropriate" spring means, in this instance a garter spring 5L The end portion of each transfer finger coin prises a substantially quarter circle cut-out 58, 59, the upper portions'of such cut-outs being beveled or chamfered, as shownin Figs. 5 and 6. The normal position of the transfer fingers is in alignment with the terminal portion of a trackway 24 and when in this position the fingers 53 and 54 are moved apart against the force of spring 51 by the engagement between the fingers of the pointed -or cam shaped end of a stud 5E; adjustably mounted in the retainer 23 and em gaging beveled cutouts 53E in adjacent faces of the transfer fingers. The transfer finger assem--' bly is urged to this normal or component receiving' "position with sufficient force to lift the retainer against the compression of spring 35 until further movement thereof is stopped by the engagement of the head of plunger 35 with bracket 21. v

The means for shifting the transfer assembly from component receiving position, as shown in Fig. 1, to component delivery position, as shown in Fig. 2, may comprise a pinion 6| secured to arbor so, which pinion is engaged by a rack 62 secured to or formed integral with a thrust rod 63 which is telescopically received in a recess in the upper end of an actuator rod 64. The thrust rod is urged upwardly with respect to the actuator rod by a suitable means such as a sprin 55 interposed between the lower end of the thrust rod and the bottom of the recess, and such movement is limited by .a pinandslot connection shown at 55. This lost motion connection .not only enables a slight over-travel of actuator E i, but also permits transfer fingers to stop before reaching their Fig. 1 position should a battery assembly with its explosive priming charge be jammed at the trackway exit. Actuator rod 54 is moved by a cam roller 6'! controlled by a box cam 88 secured to a fixed base member 59, it being remembered that all of the mechanism described except the hopper is mounted on a revolving turret.

" Movement of a battery cup from the position shown in Fig. 2 into the receiving recess in the head llof a shot shell in a die is efi'ected by means of a plunger 1B which, by cam connections not shown but generally similar to the cam and follower 88-61, performs a vertical reciprocat ing movement in properly timed relation to the movement of the transfer assembly. Said plunger is elevated from the position shown in Fig. l to lift the battery assembly upwardly from its position between the transfer fingers into the recess provided therefor in the shot shell head. In this movement, the transfer fingers are thrust apartby the engagement of the flange of the bat- ;tery' cup with the adjacent chamfered surface of the fingers, and the end portion of plunger ll, passes between the transfer fingers. However, upward movement of plunger 39 is stopped while the fiange of the .battery cup is still between the upper unchamfered portions of the transfer fingers, so that, the plunger being of slightly less diameter than the flange, the plunger surface does not atan'y time contact the transfer fingers,

and-both-are free to perform their intended function without interference, wear or abrasion with each'other.

Theoperation of the mechanism may be summarized as follows:

The normal or home position of the parts is illustrated in Fig. 1. The transfer assembly is held with the ends of the transfer fingers in alignment with the offset terminal portion of the trackway 2d. The transfer fingers are held apart in position to receive a battery cup through their engagement with the pointed end of stud 5E, and by this same engagement the retainer 28 is rocked clockwise about its pivot against the compression of spring 36, to provide an open passageway for the battery cup flanges between the lower surface of block 29 and the upper surface of the main portion of trackway 24. and also between the surface 33 and the end of the offset portion of the trackway 24. Battery cups slide freely out of trackway 24, and the foremost cup comes to rest between the transfer fingers, the margin of its flange engaging the margin of the flange of the adjacent battery cup in B positionupon the offset portion of the trackway. The next adjacent cup in A position is held in the main portion of the trackway by the peripheral engagement of its body with the flange of the cup in B position. Any turning movement of the cup in A position is prevented by the juxtaposed surface of block 29. The parts are firmly held in this position by an active surface of cam 58 acting through cam following roller 67, actuator rod 54, compression spring 65, and thrust rod 63. It will be noted that the presence of spring 55 in this actuating train allows for an over-movement of the cam follower, and insures the correct positioning of both the transfer assembly and the retainer.

A battery cup being between the spread transfer fingers, the thrust rod 63 is lowered by cam 68 and. in the initial downward or clockwise movement of the transfer fingers the retainer is rocked counter-clockwise about its pivot 26 by spring 36. This causes the lower surface of block 29 to grip and hold the battery cup in A position. At the same time, the surface 33 of block 39 approaches the margin of the offset end portion of the trackway to retain a cup in B position. In the same initial downward movement of the transfer-fingers, said fingers are with-- drawn from the stud 60 and are moved toward each other by spring 51 to firmly grip the battery cup therebetween. In the further movement of the transfer assembly, said cup is carried to the position shown in Fig. 2 and immediately upon its reaching this position plunger H3 is elevated to thrust it through the fingers and into the shot shell head.

While the mechanism has been described with particular reference to the transfer of battery cups and their insertion in shot shell heads, it will be obvious that it is equally applicable to the alignment, transfer and delivery of any other components of generally similar configuration.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for the delivery of a successsion of articles in a predetermined orientation comprising a trackway, means for arranging a row of articles in said trackway in a desired orientation, article transfer means adapted when in one position to receive articles one at a time from the exit end of said trackway, said article transfer means being movable from said article receiving.position to an article delivery position, and gripper means actuated upon displacement of said transfer means from article receiving position to press an article in said trackway into gripping engagement with a portion thereof and thereby retain articles in said trackway during such displacement, the end portion of said trackway being downwardly offset from the main portion thereof, whereby the foremost article in said trackway is held in a plane displaced from the plane of other articles therein.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which there is associated with said gripper a block having a formed surface adapted to guide an article in its movement onto the offset portion of said trackway.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which when said gripper is in effective position the gripping portion thereof engages the article in the main portion of said trackway adjacent said offset, and said block defines a recess for retaining an article on said offset.

4:. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which said article transfer means comprises a pair of article receiving fingers havinga cam engagement with a portion of said gripper, and said gripper has a limited oscillatory movement, whereby upon movement of said transfer means to article receiving position said gripper is moved to ineffective position and said fingers are placed in article receiving condition.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 in which the article engaging portions of such fingers are recessed to embrace a substantial portion of the periphery of an article received thereby and the margins of such recesses adjacent one face of the fingersare chamfered to enable a flanged article to be thrust between and through said fingers. V

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said gripper is mounted for bodily movement to clear and expose the portions of said trackway and article transfer means normally covered thereby.

7. Apparatus for the delivery of a succession of articles in a predetermined orientation comprising a trackway, means for arranging a row of articles in said trackway in a desired orientation, article transfer means adapted when in one position to receive articles one at a time from the exit end of said trackway, said article transfer means being movable from said article receiving position to an article delivery position, and gripper means actuated upon displacement of said transfer means from article receiving position to press an article in said trackway into gripping engagement with a portion thereof and thereby retain articles in said trackway during such displacement, said gripper means being mounted for bodily movement to clear and expose the portions of said trackway and article transfer means normally carried thereby, said gripper means being pivoted on an arm which in turn is pivoted on a support, and latches'associated with said arm to normally hold said arm in fixed relation to said support.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which said latches are connected through toggle links joined by a stud having a fingerpiece associated therewith, whereby a single manipulation ofsaid fingerpiece first disables'said latches and there'- after moves said gripper clear of said trackway and article transfer means.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 comprising an operator for said article transfer means, a driver for said operator, and a yielding connec tion between said driver and said operator enabling over-movement of said operator as said transfer means approaches article receiving position.

10. Apparatus for the delivery of a succession of articles in a predetermined orientation comprising a trackway, means for arranging a row of articles in said trackway in a desired orientation, article transfer means adapted when in one position to receive articles one at a time from the exit end of said trackway, said article transfer means being movable from said article receiving position to an article delivery position,

and gripper means actuated upon displacement of said transfer means from article receiving position to press an article in said trackway into gripping engagement with a portion thereof and thereby retain articles in said trackway during such'displacement, said apparatus further comprising an operator for said article transfer means, a driver for said operator, and a yielding connection between said driver and said operator enabling over-movement of said operator as said transfer means approaches article receiving position, said apparatus also comprising a revolving turret support for all said devices, said turret being provided with an element adapted to be driven by a conveyor, a workpiece holding receptacle on said conveyor adapted to align a workpiece therein With an article in said article transfer means when in article delivering position.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 comprising a push rod actuated in timed relation to the movement of said article transfer means to move an article from said transfer means into said workpiece. 1

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 in which said trackway is an element of a hopper bottom revolving with said turret and. a normally fixed hopper body is supported in juxtaposition to said revolving hopper bottom.

KENNETH J. Yos'r. WARREN s. REYNOLDS. JOHN R. TURNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

